"For this game, which is set in our version of modern-day Los Angeles, what was important for us was to capture that feeling of LA and California," Rockstar soundtrack supervisor Ivan Pavlovich said. "We approached the radio stations as the musical soundscape [you experience] as you fly into LA. One of the things we've never done in a GTA game before is a pop station; exploring that made so much sense in the context of LA."

The game will have its own original score, with game audio differing based on the player's distinct actions. "The score plays during missions and the open-world gameplay, and during online play," Pavlovich said. "It's completely dynamic, and engineered very similar to what we've done in the past with our interactive stem system--it responds to what you're doing with your character."